The present disclosure relates to architectural systems, such as headwalls, columns, and ceiling-suspended arm assemblies used in hospitals, and particularly to an architectural system adaptable to patient acuity level. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an architectural system that is configured to deliver services, such as medical gases, to a patient and/or that is configured to support patient-care devices for delivering intensive care services to a patient.
Architectural systems, such as headwalls, columns, and ceiling-suspended arm assemblies, through which medical gases are accessible via medical service outlets are known. Headwalls, columns, and arm assemblies having rails, tracks, or brackets for attachment of patient-care devices and having electrical outlets for delivering power to the patient-care devices are also known. Patients in critical condition are oftentimes located in an intensive care unit of a hospital, whereas patients in stable condition are oftentimes located in a standard patient room. Architectural systems in intensive care units are generally configured to hold more patient-care devices and provide more types of medical services than architectural systems found in a standard patient room.
The numbers of patients in critical condition and the numbers of patients in stable condition fluctuate in a hospital over time. Thus, at any given time there may be either a shortage or excess of spaces for patients in an intensive care unit. In addition, at any given time there may be either a shortage or surplus of standard hospital rooms. Thus, there is a need for an architectural system that is adaptable to patients having high, medium, and low acuity levels so that hospitals have the flexibility to meet the needs of the patient population at any give time.
According to this disclosure, an architectural system adaptable to an acuity level of a patient supported by a hospital bed in a patient room having a wall and a ceiling is provided. The architectural system comprises a wall unit coupled to the wall and having a cavity, a ceiling unit coupled to the ceiling, and a column coupled to the ceiling unit for movement between a first position in which at least a majority of the column is situated in the cavity and a second position in which the column is situated outside the cavity.
Various patient-care devices and equipment are attachable to the column. Such patient care devices include, for example, IV racks, infusion pumps, ventilation equipment, heart rate monitoring equipment, and patient data acquisition equipment. In an illustrative embodiment, a number of medical service outlets, such as gas outlets and electrical outlets, are coupled to the column. Also in the illustrative embodiment, a number of doors are coupled to the wall unit for opening and closing the cavity. Thus, when the column is in the cavity, the doors may be moved to closed positions shielding the column and the equipment carried by the column from view and blocking access to the medical service outlets on the column. Opening the doors, but leaving the column in the cavity of the headwall unit, permits access to some of the medical service outlets and to some portions of the equipment carried by the column. When the column is moved out of the cavity, all of the medical service outlets and all pertinent portions of the equipment carried by the column are accessible.
Also according to this disclosure, a ceiling unit having one or more pieces of equipment coupled thereto is provided. Such equipment includes, for example, a reading light, an examination light, a display screen, air curtain generation equipment, a privacy curtain, a temperature sensor, an air quality sensor, an air purifier, aroma therapy equipment, a motion sensor, and a proximity sensor. In one illustrative embodiment, an arm assembly is coupled to the ceiling unit and supports an overbed table. The arm assembly permits the overbed table to be moved from one side of a hospital bed to an opposite side of the hospital bed.
A mobile cart is also disclosed herein. In an illustrative embodiment, the mobile cart comprises an upstanding pedestal, a plurality of legs coupled to a bottom of the upstanding pedestal, and a plurality of wheels. Each wheel is coupled to a respective leg of the plurality of legs. The legs, along with the wheels coupled thereto, are each movable between a first position extending outwardly from beneath the upstanding pedestal and a second position tucked beneath the upstanding pedestal. The mobile cart is attachable to a ceiling-mounted column or an arm assembly. The mobile cart is also attachable to a hospital bed to be transported with the bed. When the mobile cart is attached to either the column, the arm assembly, or the bed, the wheels of the mobile cart are spaced apart for the floor. A headwall unit having a cavity configured to receive the mobile cart is also disclosed. The mobile cart carries one or more pieces of patient-care equipment such as, for example, an IV pole, an infusion pump, a ventilator control unit, a gas tank, a gas control unit, a vital signs monitor, an on-board computer, a receiver, a transmitter, and a battery.
Further according to this disclosure, a set of hospital equipment comprises a headwall, a blanket, a unit housed in the headwall, and a hose coupled to the blanket and coupled to the unit, a thermoregulation medium being moved between the blanket and the unit through the hose. The thermoregulation medium includes, for example, heated air, cooled air, a heated liquid, or a cooled liquid. In some embodiments, in which the thermoregulation medium is heated or cooled air, the blanket has a plurality of perforations through which the heated or cooled air is expelled.
Additional features will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the various inventions disclosed herein as presently perceived.